Angelus News | March 25, 2022 | Vol. 7 No. 6
On the cover: A man walks by the debris of buildings destroyed during Russian aerial bombing in the village of Byshiv outside Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 12. On Page 10, Ann Rodgers hears from Catholics in the U.S. and on the ground in Ukraine working around the clock to rescue families in harm’s way. On Page 14, an Italian missionary family spoke exclusively to Pablo Kay, Angelus editor-in-chief, about their dramatic escape from a besieged city and why they still believe they have a mission in Ukraine.
On the cover: A man walks by the debris of buildings destroyed during Russian aerial bombing in the village of Byshiv outside Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 12. On Page 10, Ann Rodgers hears from Catholics in the U.S. and on the ground in Ukraine working around the clock to rescue families in harm’s way. On Page 14, an Italian missionary family spoke exclusively to Pablo Kay, Angelus editor-in-chief, about their dramatic escape from a besieged city and why they still believe they have a mission in Ukraine.
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Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny,<br />
interim president of the Dicastery<br />
for Promoting Integral Human Development,<br />
visits Ukrainian refugees<br />
in Barabás, Hungary, on <strong>March</strong> 9.<br />
| CNS/COURTESY LAMBERT ATTILA/<br />
MAGYAR KURÍR<br />
Keeping the hatch open<br />
How Pope Francis’ approach to Ukraine was shaped<br />
by the other big diplomatic crisis of his papacy.<br />
BY INÉS SAN MARTÍN<br />
ROME — Among the throng of<br />
visitors who gathered in St. Peter’s<br />
Square on Sunday, <strong>March</strong><br />
6, for the pope’s weekly <strong>Angelus</strong>, many<br />
had come with prayers of peace and<br />
shows of solidarity with the people of<br />
Ukraine following the Russian invasion<br />
in late February.<br />
And Pope Francis came with a surprise.<br />
In a show of his support and that of<br />
the “entire Christian community” for<br />
the East European country, he announced<br />
that he was sending two of his<br />
closest aides, Polish Cardinal Konrad<br />
Krajewski and Canadian Cardinal<br />
Michael Czerny, to Ukraine.<br />
Both cardinals play a key role in<br />
carrying out the pope’s social vision. As<br />
the “papal almoner,” Cardinal Krajewski<br />
essentially serves as Pope Francis’<br />
charitable arm, while Cardinal Czerny<br />
headed the Vatican’s migration office<br />
for several years before taking over the<br />
Vatican’s Dicastery for Integral Human<br />
Development a few months ago.<br />
Cardinal Czerny first went to Budapest,<br />
where he met with refugees,<br />
before making his way to the border<br />
with Ukraine. Almost as soon as he’d<br />
wrapped up the visit, the Vatican<br />
announced on <strong>March</strong> 14 that the pope<br />
had asked Cardinal Czerny to return<br />
to Ukraine a second time, this time<br />
via the Slovakian border, to show Pope<br />
Francis’ “closeness” to the suffering<br />
country.<br />
Meanwhile Cardinal Krajewski told<br />
Crux that he sent the pope photos of<br />
what he was seeing while crossing the<br />
border from Poland into Ukraine.<br />
“People are standing in freezing<br />
weather, women with little children<br />
are standing in long lines,” he described.<br />
“They are hair-raising scenes.”<br />
Pope Francis has also made a point<br />
of staying informed by speaking<br />
to Ukrainian President <strong>Vol</strong>odymyr<br />
Zelenskyy, the head of the Ukrainian<br />
Greek Catholic Church (UGCC),<br />
and even the Russian ambassador to<br />
the Holy See. On <strong>March</strong> 14, Vatican<br />
Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro<br />
Parolin revealed that Russia had “taken<br />
24 • ANGELUS • <strong>March</strong> <strong>25</strong>, <strong>2022</strong>
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